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Looks like yet another “scholar” has managed to make himself the laughing stock of the Saudi virtual world (and beyond)! “Sheikh” Saleh al Luhaidan has apparently made the mistake of telling Sabq online newspaper that the women who are demanding the right to drive on the 26th of October are “hasty” and need to “slow down” and “think about it”. Really?? being the last country in the WORLD where women can’t drive, you don’t think we’ve been patient enough??!

He then moves on to list three main reasons why women shouldn’t drive:

1- The Sahabeyat (Female Muslim apostles) only rode horses and camels when it was an absolute necessity and were normally accompanied by a Mahram (male relative).

2- Statistically women have more accidents than men, so they are in more danger. (33% for women vs. 9% of men)

Really?? REALLY??!!! Does he think we live in the stone age and don’t have Google or airlplane tickets??!!

Allow me to backtrack and list this guys so-called credentials. According to Sabq, he is “المستشار القضائي الخاص المستشار النفسي للجمعية النفسية في دول الخليج” that means he is a “Special Judicial Psychological Consultant to the Psychological Society of the Gulf Countries”. So he supposedly has a PhD in psychology.

Special is right. He belongs in the psyche ward, in a straight jacket.

His three points are so far off the bat, with ZERO accuracy in referencing or truth, I’m beginning to wonder how he ever got a PhD to begin with. The women at the time of the prophet probably walked most of the time like the men because: a-They lived in small towns and b-Only rich people had the luxury of animals to ride. The majority of religious scholars have admitted that there is no religious reason for women not to drive. So him trying to challenge that is a joke.

Statistically everyone knows that while women aren’t better drivers then men, they ARE safer drivers, resulting in less lethal accidents and more dents and scratches. That’s why they get better car insurance rates. If you don’t believe me click here, here and here!

And I’m not even getting into the pelvic-deformed-baby bullsh** because it’s such a bald-faced lie it’s made him the butt of the twitter world’s jokes which we all know can be merciless. I bet he got his medical PhD same way he got his Psychology one.

I find this highly amusing. A Kuwaiti singer named Shams has recently released a song that is causing quite a stir. It’s titled “It’s Our Right To Drive” and the lyrics go between asking, cajoling and teasing. She even sings that’s she’s rather save the money she pays the driver and buy a gift for her man instead! I translated one verse from the song:

“Let me drive a car,

understand the street and it’s secrets,

try me one let me drive a bit,

trust me you won’t lose a thing,

This is my right and I want it,

and tomorrow it will be mentioned in the newspaper”

There’s even a guy who replies:

“It’s better for you if you’d just ride a Camel”

Hilarious.

I don’t get the end though but apparently an ambulance is needed. Gee Shams, thanks a lot for the optimistic outlook.

In reply to the wave of criticism she faced, the singer just said that she’s free to sing about anything she wants and if they don’t have a sense of humor and don’t get it she really doesn’t even care that they exist. Hahaha! That’s Kuwaiti singers for you, with kuwaiti attitude to boot.

I’m not sure if she’s helping the issue or making it worse, or if she supports it or is using it to get attention. But hey, the more the merrier.

Hello All, meet Lujain Al-Hathlool, an uber popular “keeker” (did I say that correctly? I’m not a fan of keek.com , but many Saudis are). Anyhow, Lujain is participating as the new face for the Women2Drive campaign, urging Saudi women to get in their cars and drive in the streets of Saudi Arabia on the 26th of October, 2013. Following in the footsteps of the original 40 in 1991 and the more recent call for action in 2011, the hope is to break the fear barrier and show that we have a right to drive our own cars, and want to practice it.

Sadly, please disregard the comments below her video, as most are hateful and verbally abusive. Hats off to her for doing this anyways. I can’t begin to understand these hateful people, but their inner ugliness shines though their words. They’re just angry, insecure, pathetic dimwits who think they have the right to threaten smart and independent women just because they were born XY. I hope they go extinct like the dinosaurs.

So, let the suspense begin to build up! I hope this gets the attention of the right people. I can’t tell you if I’m planning on doing it myself, but you can take a guess. *wink*

Check out the new website collecting signatures for our right to drive! So cute! love the slogan. Translated: Driving: a Choice not By Force!

The reason for this slogan is basically to say that If women are allowed to drive, you won’t be forced to do so, but you will have the option should you choose to. Its a direct reply to those women who say they don’t want to drive. So to those who don’t want to: Don’t stand in our way, no one will force you to drive!

Twitter & Facebook have been abuzz today with the news that the Hay’a (Commission of prevention of vice….etc) has told its members that they are not allowed to follow women that drive their cars. Apparently several online newspapers had published this announcement which turns out to be just a rumor that was quickly denied. Yep. Not True.

Honestly It’s pretty clear that it’s just a rumor, because a- There is no way of enforcing it. b- They still clash with Lingerie shops on the whole women shop girls thing (against them naturally, somehow its better to have men sell lingerie to women than actually let women work), so it’s not like they follow legal guidelines anyways. and c- Most of the electronic newspapers that published this did so in a copy/paste style, with no names for the source in the Hay’a who told them this. Having said that, “Al-Hayat” newspaper DID publish this and they are one of the oldest newspapers in the country. So that’s probably what lent it legitimacy. Maybe it did happen but they don’t want to abide by it??

That didn’t stop twitter from going crazy with a new hashtag of the title of the article, where people got into the same useless and endless debate between Pro, Against, and the Jokers.

Tssk tsk… What a waste of time.

On the positive side, the “announcement” did include that the reason for this is that there is no law actually banning women from driving, so this is outside of the Hay’a’s jurisdiction (like that ever stopped them). Maybe the whole point was just to test the public’s reaction or spread awareness.

Still a waste of time…

For those of you who can read Arabic and are interested in the announcements, here is the Al-Hayat link.